Academics

Hammond uses unique skills to lead PSU Smeal marketing analytics certificate

Deadline to apply for fall 2017 enrollment in the Graduate Certificate in Marketing Analytics is Aug. 1

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the Penn State Smeal College of Business was searching for someone to lead its new Graduate Certificate in Marketing Analytics, being offered online through Penn State World Campus, the college sought to hire someone with both academic credentials and industry experience.

Enter Chelsea Hammond, whose long-term intention when she was pursuing her doctorate in communication science from the University of Connecticut, was to leverage that knowledge in the private sector, instead of the usual path into academia. After earning her doctorate, she worked as a senior marketing scientist at The Pert Group, a director of data operations and insights at Forrester Research, and as a consultant for Simmons Research.

“When I saw the description of the position and talked to the college about what they hoped to accomplish with the graduate certificate, I thought to myself, ‘I would be a good fit for this,’” said Hammond.

Smeal hired Hammond in January 2016 as clinical assistant professor of marketing and program director for the new graduate certificate program.

The application deadline for fall 2017 enrollment in the Graduate Certificate in Marketing Analytics is Aug. 1.

Hammond will teach the first course of the program — Marketing 811: Driving Business Success with Marketing Analytics — when the semester starts Aug. 21.

“In developing this program, we combined my 10 years of industry experience with what we learned from 25-30 interviews with industry leaders to help identify the most important skills companies want students to have when supporting data-driven marketing,” Hammond said. “Our curriculum will give students the knowledge to help companies bridge the gap between data and business strategy. It will help them explain the ‘so-what’ of the data and translate it into meaningful information.”

Students enrolled in Marketing 811 will learn about the process and principles of applying analytics to business challenges. Following the introductory course, students in the program will then take courses on digital marketing communications analytics, analytics for supporting customer acquisition and retention; and analytics for brand management and customer experience.

"This program is designed to train data translators — marketers and market researchers who are skill at identifying the right data, turning it into business insights and helping stakeholders leverage it in decision-making," Hammond said. “Businesses typically hire marketers early in their careers or recent business school graduates with the expectation that they know more about marketing analytics than many do. Those people find that the trajectory for their careers is much steeper without the knowledge this program will provide.”

The credits from the Graduate Certificate in Marketing Analytics may be applied to the marketing analytics concentration of the Penn State online MBA led by the Smeal College of Business. Students must apply and be accepted.

About Smeal Professional Graduate Programs
Smeal offers a diverse portfolio of professional graduate programs, including MBA, EMBA, online MBA, residential specialty masters, online specialty masters, and online certificates. Subjects include accounting, corporate innovation and entrepreneurship, business analytics, marketing analytics, and supply chain management.

Last Updated July 17, 2017

Contact